Closed out my Bank of America checking account and emptied the safe deposit box I rented. No, I am not telling you where I live. I plan to move the contents to a credit union and rent its safe deposit box.
I was asked by the personal banker if I'd looked into other BoA accounts that would suit my needs. "This one suited my needs," I said, "and they're changing it to one that doesn't. I'm being forced to change."
I am sad that the bank's change in policy drove me out of my inertia. It likelily is just me, but my take was that the longer you are a paying customer, and the better your credit is established, the less the bank wants to change account terms to the point where it's disadvantageous for you to continue the relationship.
However, huge banks swallow smaller ones, not to continue the smaller banks' policies, but rather to feed on the plankton that is the customer base.
This is why I'm not in banking, and why I only begrudgingly use credit cards for convenience. Bank of America swallowed MBNA too, but MBNA was on a downward spiral when its CEO Alfred Lerner died.
I'm always torn about closing my credit card accounts -- there's no protection against a longstanding account being changed by the banking superGoliath into one that isn't quite so advantageous to the customer, so why chase after Visa, MasterCard, Discover, or Capital One? I had a Visa, then it was changed to American Express without my asking.
The ironic thing is that I saw local friends at the bank! My friend Susan, our mutual former coworker Curt (a personal banker there), and near the bank we saw a friend of my son, and the friend's father.
Banks can be good wealth-building tools, if you're a shareholder. So can credit unions, if you're a member.
I'll probably just buy a DRIP of Royal Bank of Canada (RY).
Nearing Financial Simplicity
December 23rd, 2006 at 08:02 pm
December 23rd, 2006 at 11:29 pm 1166916545
Merry Christmas and have a happy New Year!
December 24th, 2006 at 04:48 pm 1166978939
December 24th, 2006 at 06:41 pm 1166985679
I had an account that was fee-free since 1996. The bank I opened my account at was purchased in 1999 by BoA. I received a form letter from BoA telling me that my account was being changed to the more popular MyAccess account, and I could keep it fee-free IF I had direct deposit to my account, otherwise I'd be dinged $5.95/month.
I am self-employed, so no steady direct deposit for me.
December 26th, 2006 at 05:35 am 1167111328